Please ask G20 to forgive the debt of the world's poorest countries to help with Coronavirus relief
#PeoplesVoice #G20 #DebtForgiveness #PoorestCountries #CoronavirusRelief
People crammed into slums, overcrowded hospitals, little money to help the poor. In many of these places, people simply couldn’t afford to stay home or get the basic health care they need!
But G20 leaders are meeting in days to work out a global response to this crisis. Experts are asking them to offer debt relief to the world’s poorest countries, and use that precious money to save lives. That’s exactly what needs to happen right now, and it’s on us to ensure our leaders make it happen!
Poor countries worldwide are saddled with billions of debt to rich countries and institutions like the IMF. But right now, it makes much more sense for them to inject this cash into their healthcare systems, and help their people stay at home, so we can stop this virus spreading.
Pakistan and Ethiopia have already called for debt relief, and even the World Bank has asked G20 leaders to offer debt relief to the world’s poorest countries so they can spend their precious resources on the coronavirus pandemic.
Leaders have agreed to this before, but it took huge public pressure. In 2005, G8 finance ministers cancelled debt of the world’s 18 most heavily indebted countries to the amount of $40 billion! And after Ebola, the IMF cancelled $100m debt for the world’s worst-hit places.
So, let’s make this call massive, before it’s too late! This is a global crisis and we’ll only beat it if countries everywhere can contain the virus. Sign now and let’s urge G20 leaders to urgently forgive debt and save lives!
Tragedy can birth some of the most beautiful moments of our time, but only if we take this time to join hands. After World War II, major powers wrote off most of Germany’s debt, and the United Nations was created for international peacekeeping. We can create something visionary from this crisis, but we need to urge our world leaders to rise and be the heroes this moment needs. Let’s do it together.
G20: Forgive the debt of the world’s poorest to fight coronavirus